Michael Kors buys Jimmy Choo in $1.2 billion deal

Michael Kors was among several companies in the running to acquire the luxury accessories brand from JAB Luxury, including Interparfums and CVC Capital Partners.

Holdings Ltd. agreed to buy Jimmy Choo Plc for about £896 million ($1.2 billion), clinching the London-based maker of strappy stilettos, handbags and perfume.

The handbag maker will pay 230 pence a share for the luxury shoemaker, a premium of 18 percent over Monday’s close. The price is equal to about 17.5 times Jimmy Choo’s adjusted Ebitda for 2016. The boards of both companies have approved the deal, they said in a statement Tuesday.

The Jimmy Choo brand rose to prominence in the late 1990s, boosted by high-profile devotees including the late Princess Diana and the fictional Carrie Bradshaw in television series “Sex and the City.” The deal comes amid consolidation in the luxury industry, with Michael Kors rival Coach Inc. agreeing to buy Kate Spade & Co. earlier this year.

Jimmy Choo was acquired by private-equity investors three times before being bought by JAB Holding Co. for more than £500 million in 2011. JAB, the investment vehicle of the billionaire Reimann family, sold a stake in a 2014 initial public offering, though has remained the company’s majority owner with a 68 percent stake.

BofA Merrill Lynch and Citigroup advised Jimmy Choo. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase & Co. advised Michael Kors.

Michael Kors said it would keep Jimmy Choo’s existing management team, led by chief executive officer Pierre Denis.